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Authors: In the Thrill of the Night
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attractive. A beautiful woman like you must've had chaps sniffing about your skirts since you was a girl."
She flashed a grin. "I thought I could tell, but I never knew you found me beautiful. That's a lovely surprise. But then, you're well and truly foxed, so I suppose it doesn't count."
"Hmph. Of course you knew it, you silly woman. How could you not?"
"It just goes to show you how dense I am about these things. Anyway, I wasn't talking about knowing when a man thinks I look pretty. How will I know if he wants to take me to bed?"
"They all want to take you to bed. Your job is to let the right one know that he can."
"And how do I do that? How do women let you know that you can?"
"They just do, that's all."
"But how?"
He gave a deep sigh and sank lower in his chair. "Arrange it so that he drives you home. Then invite him in for a brandy. That's as clear a signal as you could give."
"And then what? Do we discuss it? Do I invite him upstairs?"
"Leave it to him. The lucky fellow will know what to do, damn his eyes."
Marianne smiled at his drunken distress. "You don't like this idea at all, do you? This business of me taking a lover?"
"As a matter of fact, I do not."
"Don't you want me to be happy?"
"Ah, m'dear. Of course I do."
He reached out to touch her, lost his balance, and almost overturned the chair. Trying again, he finally made contact with her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He allowed his fingers to skim lazily over her knee before he fell back against the chair cushions.
It must have been the wine, for Marianne could still feel the warm imprint of his touch.
"Of course I do," he repeated. "Want nothing more, in fact. It's just ... awkward, you know."
"I know."
"And I suppose I can no longer blithely leap over the balcony to visit you unexpectedly. I might run into your unknown swain, which would be embarrassing at best."
"I had not considered that. But I don't want you to stop visiting, Adam."
"Then perhaps we need a signal."
"What sort of signal?"
"Let's see." He looked around the room. "How about that orchid plant?" He gestured toward an exotic plant in a French cachepot. "Put that out on the balcony when you are willing to have me visit. If I do not see the orchid, I will not intrude."
"All right. If that will make you feel more comfortable."
"Nothing about this situation makes me comfortable."
"I just wish you would stop acting like an older brother protecting his charge and think of me as a woman for once."
Adam stared at her open-mouthed for a long moment, then burst into laughter. When he could manage to speak again, he said, "I promise you, m'dear, to make an effort to curb my protective instincts."
And then his lazy green eyes took on an intense expression she could not read in the dwindling light of the dying fire, but that look held her captive so that she almost forgot to breathe.
"I also promise," he said in a voice thick and soft as butter, "never, ever to think of you in a brotherly manner. You shall always and forever be a woman to me."
Good heavens, the man's voice sent a shiver dancing down her spine. Adam did not often turn his seductive charm on her, but when he did, it was potent. If just one of those men remaining on her list could make her feel like that, perhaps she would finally discover what Penelope had been talking about.
She looked down at the remains of her list. Which one would it be?
CHAPTER 4
"I tell you, it was more than a man should have to endure, listening to that long list of potential lovers. I had to get drunk just to get through it."
Adam sat with Lord Rochdale in a dark corner of the Raven Coffee House. Their cups had twice been refilled and the remains of ham sandwiches littered a platter between them. It was an old-fashioned establishment on Fetter Lane, one of the few old coffeehouses that had not been converted into a private club or a tavern. A broad central stairway led up to rooms where business of all sorts — most
She flashed a grin. "I thought I could tell, but I never knew you found me beautiful. That's a lovely surprise. But then, you're well and truly foxed, so I suppose it doesn't count."
"Hmph. Of course you knew it, you silly woman. How could you not?"
"It just goes to show you how dense I am about these things. Anyway, I wasn't talking about knowing when a man thinks I look pretty. How will I know if he wants to take me to bed?"
"They all want to take you to bed. Your job is to let the right one know that he can."
"And how do I do that? How do women let you know that you can?"
"They just do, that's all."
"But how?"
He gave a deep sigh and sank lower in his chair. "Arrange it so that he drives you home. Then invite him in for a brandy. That's as clear a signal as you could give."
"And then what? Do we discuss it? Do I invite him upstairs?"
"Leave it to him. The lucky fellow will know what to do, damn his eyes."
Marianne smiled at his drunken distress. "You don't like this idea at all, do you? This business of me taking a lover?"
"As a matter of fact, I do not."
"Don't you want me to be happy?"
"Ah, m'dear. Of course I do."
He reached out to touch her, lost his balance, and almost overturned the chair. Trying again, he finally made contact with her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He allowed his fingers to skim lazily over her knee before he fell back against the chair cushions.
It must have been the wine, for Marianne could still feel the warm imprint of his touch.
"Of course I do," he repeated. "Want nothing more, in fact. It's just ... awkward, you know."
"I know."
"And I suppose I can no longer blithely leap over the balcony to visit you unexpectedly. I might run into your unknown swain, which would be embarrassing at best."
"I had not considered that. But I don't want you to stop visiting, Adam."
"Then perhaps we need a signal."
"What sort of signal?"
"Let's see." He looked around the room. "How about that orchid plant?" He gestured toward an exotic plant in a French cachepot. "Put that out on the balcony when you are willing to have me visit. If I do not see the orchid, I will not intrude."
"All right. If that will make you feel more comfortable."
"Nothing about this situation makes me comfortable."
"I just wish you would stop acting like an older brother protecting his charge and think of me as a woman for once."
Adam stared at her open-mouthed for a long moment, then burst into laughter. When he could manage to speak again, he said, "I promise you, m'dear, to make an effort to curb my protective instincts."
And then his lazy green eyes took on an intense expression she could not read in the dwindling light of the dying fire, but that look held her captive so that she almost forgot to breathe.
"I also promise," he said in a voice thick and soft as butter, "never, ever to think of you in a brotherly manner. You shall always and forever be a woman to me."
Good heavens, the man's voice sent a shiver dancing down her spine. Adam did not often turn his seductive charm on her, but when he did, it was potent. If just one of those men remaining on her list could make her feel like that, perhaps she would finally discover what Penelope had been talking about.
She looked down at the remains of her list. Which one would it be?
CHAPTER 4
"I tell you, it was more than a man should have to endure, listening to that long list of potential lovers. I had to get drunk just to get through it."
Adam sat with Lord Rochdale in a dark corner of the Raven Coffee House. Their cups had twice been refilled and the remains of ham sandwiches littered a platter between them. It was an old-fashioned establishment on Fetter Lane, one of the few old coffeehouses that had not been converted into a private club or a tavern. A broad central stairway led up to rooms where business of all sorts — most
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